Texas Representative Al Green has taken a strong position against former President Donald Trump’s engagement in cryptocurrencies, namely his freshly established memecoin. Green, a top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, questioned Trump’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation and dismissed assertions that the Biden administration actively attempted to debank the business.
Green denied charges made by some Republican leaders and crypto proponents, claiming that “Operation Choke Point 2.0″—a name used to represent alleged efforts to restrict crypto businesses’ access to banking services—was a false narrative. According to Green, regulatory agencies like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have just urged banks to analyze the risks involved with bitcoin firms rather than imposing immediate limits. Shayna Olesiuk, a banking policy director at Better Markets, reiterated this stance during the session, highlighting that authorities had not specifically ordered financial institutions to cut relations with cryptocurrency startups.
Green also requested an investigation into Trump’s memecoin, which he created shortly before his return to office in January. Despite the uproar, neither House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill nor Subcommittee Chair Dan Meuser addressed it during their opening remarks.
The hearing was particularly concerned with bitcoin businesses’ access to banking services. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, blasted the regulatory landscape, claiming that banking regulators were practicing “regulation by exhaustion.” He stated that, despite the FDIC’s public assurances that cryptocurrency businesses were entitled to banking services, behind-the-scenes guidelines compelled financial institutions to limit their involvement in the sector.
Republicans currently lead the oversight subcommittee of the 119th Congress, and this session marked its inaugural meeting. The Senate Banking Committee convened a similar hearing on February 5 to discuss issues concerning marginalized communities’ access to financial services.
In a separate announcement on February 5, Green called for Trump’s impeachment over Gaza policy decisions. However, according to the latest records, Congress had not yet filed any formal articles of impeachment.
